New publication on methodology

How do we produce knowledge that serves social and environmental justice? This newly published article by the Sustain Action Method Lab takes readers behind the scenes of research and into the “kitchen” where collaboration happens. Written collectively by our extraordinary team, the piece challenges the hierarchies of academic knowledge and proposes a bold metaphor: kitchen-work.

Just as cooking involves invisible, relational, and preparatory labour, so does collaborative research. We argue that these often-overlooked practices; care, time, negotiation, and solidarity, are essential for creating methodologies that can address today’s urgent challenges: housing crises, climate breakdown, food sovereignty, and rising inequalities.

Drawing on experiences from Eastern Europe and beyond, the article offers practical “recipes” for research that works within, against, and beyond academia. It explores how scholars and movements can co-produce knowledge that is accountable to struggles for justice, disrupt neoliberal norms, and imagine utopian futures. This is not just a methodological reflection, it is a call to rethink the politics of knowledge production and to embrace research as a collective, transformative endeavor.

If you are interested in participatory methodologies, or building bridges between academia and social movements, this article is for you. It provides inspiration and guidance for anyone who wants to turn research into a tool for solidarity and societal change. Published in Antipode. 

Title: The Kitchen-Work of Collaborative Research: Recipes for Transformative Methodologies. Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.70098